Blog 3: Curatorial

Curatorial

Coaster

“Flower and fade, and follow the natural curve, which flows on, pointless.” Said by D. H. Lawrence, this sums up the idea of fluidity. That there is a natural order and flow to life no matter how many boundaries and frames are put in and around it, which is shown through perfectly in this piece. Inspired heavily by Cecil Balmonds “Danzer” originally, the sharp geometric lines inspired a wire form that was made only of squares and triangles, which was then abstracted into a similar form made of only one piece of wire. This was extremely reminiscent of the frames of roller coasters (which inspired the name), and so using curved flat panes of polypropylene similar in shape to those in some of the bent wood furniture made by the Korean designer Bae Sehwa, plastic was bent around what would become the face of the object. This gave the object a sense of direction (generally from bottom to top) and was then stitched together with black thread. The thread was kept black (as opposed to white which would have blended in easier) so that the stitching itself could become a feature, this is a concept known as honesty to construction which goes as far back as the late 1800s to the gothic revival era. The objects overall shape gives off a feeling of being alive, as the flowing surface moves around the frame like the rollercoasters that inspired it and has a sense of direction that flows around and up to seem as if it is actually moving and alive. 

Coaster:

 

 

Cecil Balmonds’ “Danzer” retrieved from http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/9211/cecil-balmond-element-exhibition.html
 

Bent wood furniture by Korean Designer Bae Sehwa http://michellekaufmann.com/2010/06/2058

Refences:

Danzer: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/9211/cecil-balmond-element-exhibition.html
Bent wood furniture by Bae Sehwa: http://michellekaufmann.com/2010/06/2058
Sagar K. M. (1982) A. D. H. Lawrence Handbook. Manchester University Press